Hi, I’m Ella. I love clothes. I mean, I really love clothes. If given the allotted time, I change my outfit at least twice a day. I might have a problem.
You see, I wake up in the morning and no, I don’t feel like P. Diddy, at least not yet. Tbh, I think only Ke$ha, and any other person who can get away with having a dollar sign in their first name, are the only people who can say they wake up feeling that way. For me, I need to analyze my closet and throw all my belongings on my bed, until I can finally pick out an ensemble and embark on my day.
But then I step outside. Maybe it’s colder than I had anticipated. Maybe it’s warmer. Maybe I walked outside and thought, “Am I settling?”
That’s just it. Sometimes committing to an outfit parallels with my thoughts on a commitment with a human being, and this is why.
1. We accept the outfits we think we deserve.
We choose who enters our lives the same way we choose what we put on our bodies. What we wear is an expression of who we are, just like how the people we pick in our lives help mold us to become who we are. It’s no wonder why the world will end before you see me in sweatpants in public. No, joggers don’t count because then you’re just being Kanye for wearing them and kudos to you.
2. What we put on needs to be a good fit.
I’m 5’0″, and when I see a jumpsuit in the store, it takes everything in me not to justify purchasing it even though I know the pant legs will go on for miles past my ankles.
Sometimes people either fit right into our lives or they’re like Beyonce and that fourth Destiny’s Child member that didn’t even make it past their first album. We can’t get along with everyone and we need to admit when a size just doesn’t fit the way we wish it would. We need to be honest with ourselves when that skirt has gotten too tight or this relationship has gone stale, and promptly muster the strength to cast it out. Because there’s no logic in holding onto something that’s just not working.
3. We need to wear our true colors through and through.
In relationships, you must be honest about who you are from the get-go, or else your significant other will become significantly insignificant real quick.
Back in high school, I wanted a pair of UGGS. According to everyone around me, those shoes just coordinated so well with a black Northface jacket and a Starbucks frappuccino in hand.
But in my heart, I always thought UGGS were (comfortable but) ugg-ly. But since no other adolescent girl in the northern Virginia region seemed to feel this way, I felt compelled to join the crowd. But since I couldn’t commit 100-percent to the expensive bear claw looking boots, I stooped even lower and paid a decent amount of money for FUGGS, faux UGGS.
We shouldn’t settle for knockoff items or fake people. Don’t follow a trend that just isn’t who you are simply because it’s what’s trending. Don’t commit to a person unless they’re the real-deal Chanel handbag of a person. Or a Burberry trench coat. Or whatever floats your boat.
Am I sarcastic? Yes. But what I’m trying to say is that at 22 years old, it seems everyone on my Facebook feed is getting engaged while I cannot even commit to an outfit. And I’m learning that that’s OK, because the way I present myself with my clothes is a direct reflection of how I want to be perceived by others. Maybe it’s dumb to care about what others think of me, but what matters to us is all that matters, period. So maybe I’m not ready to commit to a person because I can barely commit to a single outfit per day, but at least the day I am ready to be with someone, I’ll be so sure of who I am (and what I’m wearing in the process).